Earth Science- Chapter 24

Front 1

Electromagnetic spectrum

Back 1

arrangement of light waves (ex. ultraviolet, visible, infrared, x-rays) according to wavelengths and frequencies

Front 2

Photon

Back 2

light in a stream of particles (like bullets fired from a machine gun) that give off radiation

Front 3

Spectroscopy

Back 3

study of properties of light that depend on wavelength. (think of light going through a prism that produces a rainbow of colors)

Front 4

Continuous spectrum

Back 4

when light is produced by solid, liquid or gas under high pressure. (example: light bulb)

Front 5

Absorption spectrum

Back 5

when light is produced by visible light passing through cool gas under low pressure

Front 6

Emission spectrum

Back 6

light produced by hot gas under low pressure. (think light produced by most stars)

Front 7

Doppler effect

Back 7

perceived change in wavelength of sound and light waves that are moving toward or away. (example: an ambulance siren seems higher pitched when approaching and lower when moving away). used to determine if body in space is moving toward or away from Earth.

Front 8

Refracting telescope

Back 8

telescope built by Galileo that used a lens to bend light. could magnify up to 30 times.

Front 9

Chromatic aberration

Back 9

when red, blue and purple objects appear to be out of focus and have halos when seen through a refracting telecope

Front 10

Reflecting telescope

Back 10

telescope built by Newton that used a mirror to reflect light. no chromatic abberration (colors out of focus) with this kind.

Front 11

Radio telescope

Back 11

focuses the incoming radio waves on an antenna, which absorbs and transmits the waves to an amplifier (like a radio antenna)

Front 12

Photosphere

Back 12

bottom layer in solar atmosphere. radiates most of the light we see. think of as the visible "surface" of the sun

Front 13

Chromosphere

Back 13

second layer in solar atmosphere. thin layer of hot gases that appears as a thin, red rim around the sun.

Front 14

Corona

Back 14

outermost layer of the solar atmosphere. produces the sun's glow. extends a million kilometers from the sun.

Front 15

Solar wind

Back 15

stream of protons and electrons that boil from the corona. wind at speeds of 800 kilometers per second.

Front 16

Sunspot

Back 16

dark spots on the surface of the photosphere of the sun

Front 17

Prominence

Back 17

huge cloudlike structures made of gases that look like giant arches.

Front 18

Solar flare

Back 18

brief explosion that lasts for about an hour and looks like a bright flash above a sunspot

Front 19

Aurora

Back 19

effect of solar flare. when the Earth's atmosphere at the poles glows for several nights. also called northern and southern lights.

Front 20

Nuclear fusion

Back 20

the way that the sun produces energy. (this reaction converts 4 hydrogen nuclei nto the nucleus of a helium atom)